U.S. threatens to cut its contribution to UN peacekeeping budget

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — The United States on Friday threatened to cut down its contribution to the UN peacekeeping operations next month, saying its contribution is not a “charity.”

Nikki Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said at a Security Council open debate, that U.S. contribution of 25 percent of the peacekeeping budget “is unfair,” and the United States does not regard its contribution to the UN “as charity.”

The U.S. envoy said that the United States contributes 20 percent of the funding for the United Nations system, including 25 percent of the 7 billion U.S. dollars budget for the UN peacekeeping operations, describing the contribution as a U.S. action to “support” multilateralism at the United Nations.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said that “some players” tried to maintain “their global dominance to gain unilateral advantages.”

They self-claimed “to be multilaterals,” but their “multilateralism” is “acknowledged by them only on the basis of their conditions,” said Nebenzia.

Many observers perceived a retreat from multilateralism by the United States.

Speaking at the open debate of the Security Council on strengthening multilateralism and the role of the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system to deal with today’s global challenges.